Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Act Quotations

The soul is indestructible and its activity will continue through eternity.

Judge a man's character by what he finds ridiculous.

Thought expands, but paralyzes; action animates, but narrows.

As for solitude, I cannot understand how certain people seek to lay claim to intellectual stature, nobility of soul and strength of character, yet have not the slightest feeling for seclusion; for solitude, I maintain, when joined with a quiet contemplation of nature, a serene and conscious faith in creation and the Creator, and a few vexations from outside is the only school for a mind of lofty endowment.

There is nothing by which men display their character so much as in what they consider ridiculous... Fools and sensible men are equally innocuous. It is in the half fools and the half wise that the great danger lies.

Action has magic, grace and power in it.

Every man must form himself as a particular being, seeking, however, to attain that general idea of which all mankind are constituents.

Nothing will change the fact that I cannot produce the least thing without absolute solitude.

A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world’s torrent.

Man supposes that he directs his life and governs his actions, when his existence is irretrievably under the control of destiny

English plays, Atrocious in content, Absurd in form, Objectionable in action, Execrable EnglishTheatre.

No one knows what he is doing so long as he is acting rightly; but of what is wrong one is always conscious.

The highest cannot be spoken; it can only be acted.

What is the true test of character unless it be its progressive development in the bustle and turmoil, in the action and reaction of daily life.

Men's prejudices rest upon their character for the time being and cannot be overcome, as being part and parcel of themselves. Neither evidence nor common sense nor reason has the slightest influence upon them.

It is the color closest to light. In its utmost purity it always implies the nature of brightness and has a cheerful, serene, gently stimulating character. Hence, experience teaches us that yellow makes a thoroughly warm and comforting impression.

A talent can be cultivated in tranquility; a character only in the rushing stream of life.

One should not wish anyone disagreeable conditions of life; but for him who is involved in them by chance, they are touchstones of characters and of the most decisive value to man.

If a good person does you wrong, act as though you had not noticed it. If we practice and eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, soon the wholeworld will be blind and toothless.

Character is constructed amidst the tempests of the World

Character - in things great and small - is indicated when a man (or person) pursues with sustained follow-through what he feels himself capable of doing.

Conscience is the virtue of the observers not the agents of action

Without my attempts in natural science, I should never have learned to know mankind such as it is. In nothing else can we so closely approach pure contemplation and thought, so closely observe the errors of the senses and of the understanding, the weak and strong points of character.

Mannerism always wants to be finished and doesn't enjoy the process. Genuine, truly great talent, however, finds its greatest satisfaction in the production.

The safest thing is always to try to convert everything that is in us and around us into action; let the others talk and argue about it as they please.

The one who acts is always without conscience; nobody has a conscience but the contemplative person.

There are but few who have ideas and are, at the same time, capable of action. Ideas enlarge but stymie, action enlivens but confines.

There are few who have at once thought and capacity for action. Thought expands, but lames; action animates, but narrows.

Superstition is the poesy of practical life; hence, a poet is none the worse for being superstitious.

Generally speaking, an author's style is a faithful copy of his mind. If you would write a lucid style, let there first be light in your own mind; and if you would write a grand style, you ought to have a grand character.

Literature is a fragment of a fragment. Of all that ever happened, or has been said, but a fraction has been written; and of this but little is extant.

What a mighty spirit in a narrow bosom. [Ger., Welch' hoher Geist in einer engen Brust.]

Talent is nurtured in solitude; character is formed in the stormy billows of the world. [Ger., Es bildet ein talent sich in der Stille, Sich ein Charakter in dem Strom der Welt.]

Nothing tells more about the character of a man than the things he makes fun of.

If we meet someone who owes us a debt of gratitude, we remember the fact at once. How often we can meet someone to whom we owe a debt of gratitude without thinking about it at all!

The history of mankind is his character.

It seems to me that every phenomenon, every fact, itself is the really interesting object. Whoever explains it, or connects it with other events, usually only amuses himself or makes sport of us, as, for instance, the naturalist or historian. But a single action or event is interesting, not because it is explainable, but because it is true.

How can we know ourselves? Never by reflection, but only through action. Begin at once to do your duty and immediately you will know what is inside you.

When I consider the narrow limits within which our active and inquiring faculties are confined; when I see how all our energies are wasted in providing for mere necessities, which again have no further end than to prolong a wretched existence; and then that all our satisfaction concerning certain subjects of investigation ends in nothing better than a passive resignation... when I consider all this... I am silent.

Character, in great and little things, means carrying through what you feel able to do.

I can promise to be upright, but not to be without bias. [Ger., Aufrichtig zu sein kann ich versprechen; unparteiisch zu sein aber nicht.]

In society every man is taken for what he gives himself out to be; but he must give himself out to be something. Better to be slightly disagreeable than altogether insignificant.

To be active is the primary vocation of man.

How can one learn to know oneself? Never by introspection, rather by action.

I hate everything that merely instructs me without augmenting or directly invigorating my activity.

The formation of one's character ought to be everyone's chief aim.

We love a girl for very different qualities than understanding. We love her for her beauty, her youth, her mirth, her confidingness, her character, with its faults, caprices and God knows what other inexpressible charms; but we do not love her understanding.

Talent develops in quiet, alone; character is sharpened in the torrent of the world.

The further one advances in experience, the closer one comes to the unfathomable; the more one learns to utilize experience, the more one recognizes that the unfathomable is of no practical value.

I never knew a more presumptuous person than myself. The fact that I say that shows that what I say is true.

Character is formed in the stormy billows of the world.

Men show their character in nothing more clearly than what they think laughable.

Talents are nurtured best in solitude, But character on life's tempestuous seas!

The history of a man is in his character.

Self knowledge is best learned not by contemplation, but by action.

There is nothing more frightful than an active ignorance. [Ger., Es ist nichts schrecklicher als eine thatige Unwissenheit.]

It is commonly the personal character of a writer which gives him his public significance. It is not imparted by his genius. Napoleon said of Corneille, "Were he living I would make him a king;" but he did not read him. He read Racine, yet he said nothing of the kind of Racine.

The summit charms us, the steps to it do not; with the heights before our eyes, we like to linger in the plain. It is only a part of art that can be taught; but the artist needs the whole. He who is only half instructed speaks much and is always wrong; who knows it wholly is content with acting and speaks seldom or late.

Every need whose true satisfaction is denied leads by necessity to faith.

Character calls forth character.

A distracted existence leads us to no goal

A reasonable man needs only to practice moderation to find happiness.

I wish the stage were as narrow as the wire of a tighrope dancer so that no incompetent would dare step upon it.

Words are good, but there is something better. The best is not to be explained by words. The spirit in which we act is the chief matter. Action can only be understood and represented by the spirit.

There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight.

Character develops itself in the stream of life.

Children, like dogs, have so sharp and fine a scent that they detect and hunt out everything--the bad before all the rest. They also know well enough how this or that friend stands with their parents; and as they practice no dissimulation whatever, they serve as excellent barometers by which to observe the degree of favor or disfavor at which we stand with their parents.

There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.

Genius is formed in quiet, character in the stream of human life

Genius develops in quiet places, character out in the full current of human life

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.

When all is said the greatest action is to limit and isolate one's self.

Their is nothing so terrible as activity without insight.

Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it.

Talents are best nurtured in solitude. Character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.

Talents are best nurtured in solitude, but character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world

Talent develops in tranquillity, character in the full current of human life.

Talent develops in quiet, Character in the torrent of the world

Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they think laughable.

What chance gathers she easily scatters. A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together.

Few rash of any modern nation have a proper sense of an aesthetical whole; they praise and blame by parts; they are charmed by passages. And who has greater reason to rejoice in this than actors, since the stage is ever but a patched and piecemeal matter?

An actor should take lessons from a painter and a sculptor.

To live in a great idea means to treat the impossible as though it were possible. It is just the same with a strong character; and when an idea and a character meet, things arise which fill the world with wonder for thousands of years.

How shall we learn to know ourselves? By reflection? Never; but only through action. Strive to do thy duty; then you shall know what is in thee.

Mankind? That is an abstraction. There have always been and always will be only individuals.

I respect the man who knows distinctly what he wishes. The greater part of all mischief in the world arises from the fact that men do not sufficiently understand their own aims. They have undertaken to build a tower, and spend no more labor on the foundation than would be necessary to erect a hut.